Sweet Potato Pie is creamy, sweet, lightly spiced and baked in a buttery, flaky pie crust for a classic dessert. It’s made with simple ingredients and is sure to be a favorite at your holiday table.
Sweet potatoes are one of my faves.
I love potatoes of all kinds, really, but something about sweet potatoes just feels extra cozy and yummy.
Normally, I just roast them in the oven and serve them as a side dish. Or maybe make some Air Fryer sweet potato fries.
We also get trendy with it sometimes and make sweet potato toast or sweet potato nachos. Add your favorite toppings and dig in!
And at the holidays and throughout the holiday season, we love making some of our tried and true favorites, like mashed sweet potatoes and sweet potato casserole. I of course am partial to my bourbon sweet potato casserole with buttery pecans cause I do love me some bourbon.
Today though, we’re going with a holiday classic.
Sweet potato pie has a flaky pie crust and a rich, creamy and smooth filling of sweet potatoes with the perfect blend of spices.
It is just the ultimate for Thanksgiving or Christmas and I might just make it a couple of extra times during the holiday season because it’s really that good.
My family LOVES this pie. And I know yours will too.
So let’s get cooking.
Now, I’ve got some notes, tips and substitutions coming up below on how to make sweet potato pie. Just tryin’ to be helpful.
If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.
Ingredient Notes:
- Sweet potatoes: You’ll need 3 medium sized sweet potatoes for this recipe. If yours are on the small side, go with 4. We have to bake them until they are nice and soft and tender and then we mash and whip them up with the remaining ingredients.
- Butter: I use and prefer unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in a recipe. If you only have salted butter, that's fine, but omit the ¼ teaspoon of salt called for in the recipe.
- Sugar: I tend to use regular white granulated sugar - 1 cup - for this recipe, but you can also substitute ¾ cup of packed light brown sugar if you prefer.
- Milk: Feel free to use skim or 2% milk, both work great, or you could use whole milk for a richer filling. You can also make this with evaporated milk.
- Pie crusts: I use a refrigerated or frozen pack of pie crusts to make this recipe super duper easy. You can of course make your own homemade pie crust if you prefer, but you’ll need TWO.
OK, I also wanted to share some tips and notes on this recipe so you’re sure to have success.
Tips and Tricks:
- This recipe makes TWO sweet potato pies. This is generally a great thing for the holidays when we have bigger crowds to serve.
- You could also halve the recipe to just make 1 pie, or you could try substituting a deep dish pie pan and filling it most of the way. It’ll just need to bake longer to cook through.
- Please plan ahead because it takes about 1 hour to bake the sweet potatoes and then after you assemble the pie, it bakes for 1 hour and then needs to cool.
- I like to line my baking sheet with foil or parchment paper in case there’s any spills. Makes for easy clean up and also makes it easier to get the pies in and out of the oven.
Now, this pie is delicious all on its own. Doesn’t need a thing.
But if you’d like to add some extra oomph - for flavor or just for looks - I’ve got you covered.
(It is the holidays after all, we want the table to look GOOD!)
Topping Ideas:
- Sprinkle of cinnamon
- Dusting of powdered sugar
- Spread of marshmallow fluff (you can broil it briefly to brown)
- Mini marshmallows around edge
- Whipped cream
Or any combination of the above!
Last thing, let’s talk about what to do with the leftovers.
Storage FAQs
Store the pie covered with plastic wrap or in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days.
Yes, it freezes well! Wrap the baked and cooled pie in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. Label and date it. Freeze for up to 3-4 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Yes, this is a great recipe to make ahead of time. You can bake and cool the pie up to 1-2 days in advance. Keep it stored, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
There you have it! Everything you need to know to make this classic a success in your kitchen.
Your holidays are looking delicious already.
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 ½ lbs)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar (or ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed)
- ½ cup milk (whole, skim or evaporated)
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 (9-inch) pie crusts (thawed if frozen)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. (This catches any spills and makes it easier to get the pies in and out of the oven.)
- Scrub the sweet potatoes and poke with a fork. Place on the baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 1 hour, or until tender. Reduce oven temperature to 350.
- Once cool enough to handle, remove the sweet potato skins and add the potato to a large bowl. Mash with a fork.
- Add the butter, sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and stir until well mixed.
- Divide the sweet potato mixture between the two pie crusts. Place the pie crusts on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 55 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remove the pies from the oven and allow to cool completely. Slice and serve.
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